Colour

Choosing colour schemes is exciting, but it can also be a little 
daunting. You may find it easy to select a main colour, but more 
difficult to finalize the smaller details, although these can often 
make or break the finished effect.

Inspiration comes naturally and easily to some people, but most 
of us need a little help in developing our artistic flair, or even in 
defining our own personal preferences.

Try to identify a few key areas to help you before you start to 
make decisions about using decorating colour schemes. When 
selecting colours for your decorating scheme, you may find that
inspiration is close at hand, so look around you before searching farther.

Colours have certain properties that can evoke particular feelings 
in a room. You may choose a colour scheme simply to change 
the character of your room or to create a certain atmosphere 
by means of that colour's characteristics.

Existing decorations. 
Examine why your existing decorative colour scheme does not 
suit you, and to what extent the colour scheme needs to be changed.

Magazines. 
Flick quickly through magazines to see which pages and images 
attract you and which colours they feature.

Paintings. 
Use paintings and prints that you have bought in the past 
as reminders of what appeals to you visually.

Consult professionals.
If you visit a decorating outlet, ask their experts for advice on 
colour scheming, and you may find it extremely useful.

Visit showrooms.
Most large outlets build showrooms to display entire rooms. 
Here you may observe the work of interior designers.

Consider lighting.
You need to be aware of the lighting in a room, 
since this will affect colours.

Cater for occupants.
If a room is for communal use, cater for general taste rather than 
individual needs. When starting the decoration of a room from 
scratch, examine the function of the room and who is going to be using it.

Even a personal room, such as a bedroom, will require very 
different decor, in both practical and aesthetic terms, depending 
on whom it is designed for. Consider function. Select your colours 
according to whether a room will be used for rest and relaxation, 
for fun and recreation, or for work.

Creating space.
Some colours tend to have a receding effect on walls, which gives 
a greater feeling of space in a room. Use this to create an open, 
airy atmosphere.

Varying intensity.
The extent to which a colour has a warming or cooling influence 
depends on its intensity and its shade. The use of a light or dark 
colour does, of course, create a correspondingly light or dark 
atmosphere in a room. However, different shades of the same 
colour also have additional characteristics, and can be used 
individually to dramatize effect in the overall colour scheme.

Blending and Toning.
Blending and toning can often be the most difficult concept to 
grasp when choosing colours. You need to decide which features 
of in a room should be accentuated and which should be blended 
in with the general decor in order to produce a sympathetic 
colour scheme.

Extending colour.
Extending the same colours and designs from one surface to 
another is another way of using colour to balance a decorative 
colour scheme.

Incorporating textures.
The textured aspect of a decorative plan can also be linked with 
a colour scheme.

Scheming simply.
The best effects are often created by means of a few simple colour 
statements. Avoid including too many colours, since this tends to 
produce a very cluttered feel that will be too busy for most rooms.

I hope these ideas on decorating and colour schemes have 
been helpful. If you'd like to learn more about this topic, get 
in touch with me and I will help you realize your dream.